Breakdown of Nemandinn var peningalaus út af leigunni.
vera
to be
nemandinn
the student
leigan
the rent
út af
because of (+ dative)
peningalaus
penniless
Questions & Answers about Nemandinn var peningalaus út af leigunni.
How is the word peningalaus built in this sentence?
It is made by joining the noun peningur (money) and the suffix -laus (without / -less). When attaching -laus to a noun, we usually use the genitive case of the first word. The genitive plural of peningur is peninga, which gives us the connecting 'a' vowel: peninga + laus = peningalaus (penniless).
Does the ending of peningalaus change depending on who we are talking about?
Yes! Words created with the -laus suffix are adjectives, so they must decline to agree with the noun they describe. Because nemandinn (the student) is a masculine singular subject, the adjective is in the masculine singular nominative form (peningalaus). If the subject were neuter, like barnið (the child), it would be peningalaust, and for multiple students it would be peningalausir.
Why is the word for rent in the form leigunni?
The phrase út af (because of) always forces the noun that follows it into the dative case. The base word is the feminine weak noun leiga (rent). In the dative case, it becomes leigu, and attaching the definite article (-the) gives us leigunni.
Could we use vegna instead of út af to mean "because of" here?
Yes, but it would change the grammar of the sentence. Út af is very common in everyday speech and takes the dative case (út af leigunni). Vegna is slightly more formal and takes the genitive case, so if you used it, the phrase would have to become vegna leigunnar.
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